From the opening tip, everything felt like a formality. As Game Four of the WNBA Finals showed from the onset, the Aces moved with the assurance of veterans who had seen every version of a title clincher before and knew exactly how it would unfold. Their decisive 97–86 win over the resilient but ultimately wanting Mercury served as confirmation of their championship character: steady and superb, intensive and inevitable. They controlled the rhythm, dictated space, and never let doubt set in, not even for a moment. The result: a third championship in four years, earned more through precision than pomp, and sustained by seasoned stalwarts who have nothing more to prove.
There was no chaos to contain, no luck to lean on. The Aces executed with clinical assurance; old reliables Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young each finished with 18, while newer cogs Jewell Loyd and Dana Evans came off the bench to widen every gap that the Mercury tried to close. Admittedly, the latter had moments — Kahleah Copper exploding for 30, Alyssa Thomas assembling yet another near triple-double — but each push was thwarted by rote resistance. Not even head coach Nate Tibbetts’ ejection midway through the third produced a spark, underlining the contrast between dispassion and desperation.
Needless to say, at the core of that steadiness was newly minted Most Valuable Player A’ja Wilson. She put up 31 points, nine rebounds, four assists, two steals, and three blocks for the contest, upping her series norms to 29, 12, four, one, and two to reaffirm what all and sundry have long acknowledged. Her brilliance has reached a point where it no longer demands adjectives; she isn’t chasing recognition so much as refining certainty.
To be sure, the calm authority was hard-fought and -earned. Midseason, the Aces had faltered; they began with an 11-11 stretch that shone the spotlight on fatigue and fragility, capped by a humiliating 53-point loss to the Lynx. And then came the response: 16 straight wins to close the regular season and a playoff run that exposed earlier doubts as misguided at best. What once looked like a wobble became a test of identity that they, yes, aced by remembering who they were just when it mattered.
Creditably, the Mercury refused to fade. Even without leading scorer Satou Sabally, they managed to exceed expectations. Unfortunately for them, the Aces played with patience in rare air, and of the type that makes greatness a given. And when the battlesmoke cleared, there was, simply put, recognition.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and human resources management, corporate communications, and business development.
